We built a castle with a Bambu Lab X1

Text: Martin Björk Published: March 14, 2024

Lichtenstein Castle

Lichtenstein Castle, located near the town of Reutlingen in Germany, has a fascinating history stretching back to the Middle Ages. The castle was originally built in the 13th century as a fortification to control trade routes and protect the area from invasion. Over the years, the castle underwent several rebuilds and reinforcements.

The most significant rebuilding took place in the 19th century, when Crown Prince Wilhelm of Württemberg bought the castle and hired the architect Carl Alexander Heideloff to transform it into a Romantic residence in the neo-Gothic style. The new castle was inspired by the famous Gothic castles of literature, resulting in the spectacular structure we see today.

During the Second World War, Lichtenstein Castle was used as a training facility for the Hitler Youth, and it suffered serious damage during the final stages of the war. After the war, the castle was rebuilt and restored to its former glory.

Today, Lichtenstein Castle is a popular tourist attraction and is visited by thousands of people every year to admire its impressive architecture, enjoy the beautiful surrounding nature and learn about its rich history spanning centuries.

We decided to see what the castle looked like in “real life”, so said and done - we printed it. The printing time was just under 29 hours, but considering the detail and multi-color printing, it wasn't too bad.

The model used for the print was found on Makerworld and can be downloaded here.

As a filament choice, we once again used the hugely popular filaments from Polymaker and their gorgeous “Terra” series with its natural and matte colors that fit perfectly with this particular castle.

The colors used were:
• PolyTerra PLA Army Beige
• PolyTerra PLA Muted Red
• PolyTerra PLA Fossil Grey

The printer used was the Bambu Lab X1 with their AMS station with the ability to use several different colors in the same print. The X1 is also created with user-friendliness in mind and to be able to handle very fast prints. Should you know that a slightly smaller building area is enough, Bambu Lab A1 Mini Combo might be an option for you?